The Road Home
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day three hundred and sixty-two:  PREQUEL TO #119  He's been away for far too long, and now it's time to face the music.


Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 17th cycle. Now cycle 18!

**YEAR ONE ANNIVERSARY CYCLE!** - Within days it will have been one year since I've started this Gleekathon, and I had a thought that I should do something special for it. So this is what I did: Selecting from the start of it all to the end of august (well, I had to plan! ;)), I picked my 21 favorite one shots. A number of those I was very attached to, but left sad to see may have fallen through the cracks, so it seems fair they should be recognized.

The 21 stories were split in three categories: **POV swap - Prequel - Sequel**... I think that goes without saying ;) In no particular order... **Today's story** is a Prequel to #119 "Home, Bitter Home" a Puck & Family story originally posted February 17th 2010.

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**"The Road Home"  
Noah Puckerman Sr & Jr + Sarah **

There were two letters. One had been untouched since he'd put it in the envelope and marked it 'Sarah.' The other, the one in the envelope which said 'Noah,' he had rewritten several times over the years. It wasn't as though Sarah or her letter mattered less, it was only that… Sarah had not known; she was too young. She might still be feeling that something was missing, but it was the idea, the concept of a father. It was different for Noah; he'd been left by a person, by the father he knew.

Every year he tried to mail those letters and every time he'd lose courage and backed out. And every time he'd failed at letting go of those letters, he thought about his son… He thought about what a let-down he must have been to him as a parent… and he'd take out that letter, rewrite it. Sometimes he'd make adjustments to the text. When he was done he'd look at it, he'd sigh, and he'd stuff it back in the envelope. He didn't remember what the letter had been the first time he wrote it, but now it just felt like a list of excuses for having left him.

He knew they wouldn't believe it if he told them, but it really had not been an easy choice. He hadn't just packed up and left like it was nothing. And it wasn't like he thought he'd be gone so long; the idea had been to return right after Benny's gig.

After that had ended, he was going to head back, and then… Benny's friend needed someone for a small tour… It was too good to pass up, and he was already gone… So that was that. He'd pushed his luck one more time after that and it had become the one time too many. By then he'd been gone six months without a word, and the idea of what he'd find when he showed up back on that doorstep… He couldn't do it… couldn't… That was when he first wrote those letters.

The years went by, with more gigs, more letter rewrites, more chickening out… but then he'd realized how much he'd been thinking about home when he saw how many songs he'd written that were about his son and his daughter. That was when he first really and truly made up his mind. He was going home, and that was that.

He packed everything up, guitars and all. He put the letters in his pocket. He cranked up the music in hopes it would drown out any leftover doubts he might have had.

It was weird how it all came back to him, being back in Lima. He actually felt better, like he had a safety net. It didn't last long though, because he still had to figure what he'd do, how he'd go about it… He thought the best way for him to figure that out would be for him to see them. He hadn't seen them for so long, they would have grown, changed… He might not recognize them.

He went to what had once been Noah's school and what had to be Sarah's now. He stood by his car and watched as the kids came out. He scanned all those faces, hoping to see something familiar… His hopes were realized.

He knew it was her, the moment he saw her. He knew nothing else but that little girl, that was his daughter, he was sure of it. And eventually it was confirmed. Looking at her, it was amazing how right his songs had been. That was the girl he'd seen in his dreams. She looked happy, normal… she was okay, and that gave him relief.

As the kids were being picked up, he saw the boy coming… and he saw his son. He swore it was like looking into the past… That was who he used to be, and now his son… He had become a man in his absence, he'd become a man without him.

He couldn't give him that letter. Those words, they'd do nothing for him, they'd only make him angry. He owed Noah so much, and one of those things was not to give him his excuses in the shape of a letter. He had to present them to him in person. He wouldn't give him that letter, but he knew something that he could leave with him…

After a few more times observing from afar… he didn't know if he'd still get to see them after this, near or far. But then finally, after Noah had spotted him, definitely seen, he knew he had to go. He'd fought all doubts, just to see them; he wasn't going to back down again.

THE END

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**_[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]_**

**_[A/N2: It's 4:30am! This story is really early 'cause well I haven't been to bed yet! I JUST wrote this, after spending_**

**_all day from morning to.. 2:15am translating an essay into Italian... and then I had to get to the story, I was only_**

**_sort of tired anymore so... tada... Dunno why I'm writing all this here, guess I babble when I'm exhausted! Going to bed now! :D]_**


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